Sold Out Crowd Welcomes Startup America to RI

Startup America kicks off in Rhode Island to a sold out event at Aspire Restuarant at the Hotel Providence. The event was co-sponsored by the new Rhode Island Small Business Journal (RISBJ) and GoLocalProv.com.

More than 250 attended the overflowing event which featured speakers included:

Gil Lantini and Danny Angeli - founders of RISBJ
Mark Hayward - District Director at Rhode Island SBA
John Robitaille - Executive Director at International Center for Entrepreneurship at Johnson & Wales University
James Bennett - Economic Development Director of the City of Providence
Josh Fenton - Founder of GoLocalProv.com
Buddy Cianci - former Mayor of Providence, Author

Patricia Raskin, of Raskin Resources Productions, Inc. served as MC.

Startup's Goals

• The Startup America Partnership launched in 2011 at the White House as a private organization working to help young companies succeed in order to accelerate job growth in America.

• Today, Startup is celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Startup America Partnership, and the event was one of 15 events that are occurring across the country today as part of our anniversary celebration.

• Startup is focused on a simple premise: young companies that grow create jobs.

Three main goals

o Provide valuable resources and connections to help young companies grow
o Support regional startup ecosystems throughout US
o Recognize startups as drivers of our economy and their founders as American heroes

• The organization has assembled more than $1 Bil worth of commitments from 50+ partners to support the growth of startups in 5 key areas: Expertise, Services, Talent, Customers, and Capital.
• It is led by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs; it continues to work on a regional basis with local entrepreneurs to support and grow startup ecosystems across the country.
• Most recently, it launched our Master Challenge, a nation-wide campaign to engage the most influential leaders in the entrepreneurship community to identify and recruit the best young.

Additionally, today is Washington former Brown University Professor Darrell West hosts a panel of the Startup Board at the Brookings Institute. West is now a Vice President at Brookings Institute.